Ballast Water Treatment Technology

French trio send BWMS to the Antarctic

French ballast water management system (BWMS) maker Bio-UV has supplied one of its Bio-Sea 90 treatment systems to the country’s new polar logistics and patrol vessel, L'Astrolabe, built by French yard Piriou shipyards.

The 72 m ice-class vessel is currently undergoing final outfitting and crew training in Brest harbour before setting off in August for its first mission. That will start in October, when it will be patrolling French exclusive economic zones in the Indian and Antarctic Oceans.

Bio-UV is the only French BWMS maker and has a close relationship with the yard, it said in a statement. The company’s business director, Xavier Deval, has previously told BWTT that its French nationality gives it a close relationship with French owners but it also has a global market through a number of partnerships.

ItsBio-Sea 90 combines mechanical filtration and UV-C disinfection in a skid-mounted unit. It is able to treat 85 m3/hr of ballast water and is at the top of the company’s small flow-rate range of systems. At 2,600 tonnes displacement and with a deadweight of 1,200 tonnes, L'Astrolabe is not expected to conduct large ballast operations.